Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Attribution ·202 of 348
"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story. — Mark Twain"
They never said that.
What people say
"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story. — Mark Twain"
What was actually said
"No verified Twain source." Anonymous — Attributed — earliest verifiable use Daniel Defoe-adjacent, 19th century; attribution to Twain c. 1950
Why it stuck
The Mark Twain Project at Berkeley has never located this in Twain's published or unpublished work. The phrase is an English/Australian journalism saying from the 1890s.
Twain collects most unattributed American wisdom the way Einstein collects unattributed scientific wisdom. Neither said most of what's pinned on them.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.